Thursday, February 10, 2011

Boasting

I wonder how many of us have boasted about things we have done. I believe we as earthly beings we like to be boastful. As a child growing up my parents always told me it was not right for me to 'brag' as they called it, about myself. I was supposed to brag about others but not myself. I was told it was unbecoming to 'brag' about oneself. This has always stuck in my mind and I thank my parents for telling me this. By remembering what my parents told me I have kept myself from being ashamed that I would have given myself credit for something that I should not have.


James 5:16; "But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil." You might ask why is this evil. When we have set goals for ourselves and we have succeeded then we have the tendency to say we have done it. In all truth, by saying we have done it by ourselves this is completely wrong. We did not do this by ourselves but with the help of God. God may have had others involved in this also but we did not do it ourselves.

II Corinthians 12:5; "Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities." This is saying that we can boast about others but not ourselves unless we want to boast about our infirmities. It is better for us to give someone else tribute for what they have done than to ourselves. But we can tell people about our weaknesses.

II Corinthians 11:30; "If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities." By telling about my weaknesses, I believe it is showing I am not a fool by boasting about myself and making others think I am better than what I am.

When I have done something I think is really neat I think to myself, 'God knows what I have done and should He think it should be acknowledged, He will do it in His own way and His own time.' I don't have to tell anyone about it. Perhaps God doesn't want me to be recognized for this deed I have done. Not that it wasn't important but for some reason He doesn't want me to have it right now. There isn't a thing wrong with that. I can still feel good about what I have done and not one person has to know about it. I would much rather feel good about it and not say a word to anyone than to feel I have sinned because I want others to know about what I have done. I would rather God look down at me and smile and know I have done something good.

Proverbs 27:2; "Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips." It is our own works that will praise us. When we have done what is good and worthy it is not for us to speak well of ourselves. By doing this it is an indication of pride. There may be a time that we would need to justify ourselves but it does not do us good to praise oneself.

Thank you for stopping by and may you know the peace of the Lord. Blessings!

All comments are welcome.

2 comments:

Jenifer Metzger said...

All the glory needs to be given to God. We should not try to boasti n ourselves but boast in God. Thank you for this reminder!

Debi said...

I really don't like to brag on myself and I don't like to receive compliments too often. I am self-conscious about it. I know the things I am good at, and so does God...that's all that matters. However, an occasional 'pat on the back' is nice, too. I just am not comfortable getting them. I want God to get all the glory for all He has gifted me to do!